Without Bullock, and with 25 turnovers, Kecoughtan still gets it done

NORFOLK — They call it "The Danger Zone." And down seven points with Rodney Bullock in big-time foul trouble, Kecoughtan was definitely there midway through the third quarter.

"Yeah," guard Jeremy Saunders said. "It wasn't looking good."

Yet by the end of the period, the Warriors had pulled ahead. And despite only 15 minutes from Bullock, 25 turnovers, and a shaky endgame, Kecoughtan defeated Norview 71-66 Saturday at Scope in the Eastern Region semifinals.

The Warriors (21-8) not only advanced to Monday night's final, they clinched a spot in the Group AAA quarterfinals for the first time since 1995.

How'd they do it?

"We just kept fighting and grinding," Kecoughtan coach Ivan Thomas said. "I told them, if we get the lead, it'll be a different game. And when we did, we didn't look back.

"That was the goal. It wasn't to win, it was get the lead. We figured we could manage the game at the end."

It also didn't hurt that the Warriors held Norview (21-5), the region's best 3-point shooting team, to 2-of-18 accuracy from behind the arc.

"We took that away and made them drive more," said Josh Fortune, who led Kecoughtan with 16 points and four blocked shots.

It was a 14-3 run over the final 2:48 of the third quarter and the first 40 seconds of the fourth that turned everything around. When reserve Martin Shaw hit a pair of free throws with 7:20 left, the Warriors had gone from down 40-33 to up 47-43. With 4:44 remaining, Nate Motley's layup gave Kecoughtan its biggest lead at 59-49.

"We prepare for that," Saunders, who had 15 points, said of the run. "Coach Thomas will put three minutes on the clock and we'll be down seven, and we have to come back. Especially when it's do-or-die like now."

Even though everything seemed to be going the other way midway through the third, Thomas saw some positives.

"If we were missing free throws, I'd have been worried," Thomas said. "We got in the bonus pretty early, and all we had to do was get the refs to call a couple of those holds."

The Warriors went 20-of-26 from the free throw line, which helped offset the turnovers and 42-percent shooting from the field.

Still, Kecoughtan made things tougher than they needed to be. The Warriors led 66-57 with 2:21 left but kept attacking on offense as if there were a 10-second shot clock. Norview chipped away and got as close as 67-63 with 1:25 left.

"We want them to play physical, but want them to be intelligent," Thomas said. "We'll talk about those mental lapses."